Commercial Construction May Hit $2.5 Billion This Year

By Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Thanks to a number of education, health care, industrial and retail building projects, the region should see a 20% increase in nonresidential building by year end, according to the recently released Pittsburgh Construction News mid-year report.

Among the education projects that are expected to generate volume for contractors are a new high school for the Moon Area School District that is expected to cost about $50 million and a $60 million high school remodeling and expansion project in the Baldwin-Whitehall School District, [says Jeff] Burd [, president of the construction market tracking and research firm].

"There's also a tremendous amount of work at universities and area hospitals, and in the light manufacturing category alone, we've have five projects over 40,000 square feet," says Burd.

Health care-related work includes the $470 million Children's Hospital project in Pittsburgh's Lawrenceville neighborhood, he says.

Also among projects moving forward this year are buildings planned for several industrial parks, the Imperial Business Park in North Fayette, and two sites in Findlay: McClaren Woods and the Clinton Industrial Park.

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